Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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288. To ask the Minister for Health if further funding will be made available to a nursing home (details supplied) to enable it to cover increasing costs and to avoid it being forced to increase fees. [53965/22]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I am acutely aware of the specific challenges faced by the nursing home sector related to price inflation and increased energy costs. It is imperative that nursing homes manage potential cost pressures in line with their regulatory and contractual responsibilities, maintaining their quality of care so that residents’ lived experience and comfort is not affected.

The Government has provided substantial supports to the nursing home sector over the course of the pandemic. Over €144 million has been claimed by nursing homes under the Temporary Assistance Payment Scheme (TAPS) since its introduction in 2020. The Government has now agreed to extend TAPS to the end of the year by maintaining the availability of Outbreak Assistance support.

Budget 2023 saw an additional €180 million of funding for services for older people for winter 2022 and into 2023, building on unprecedented increases of recent years. This will bring investment in these services to over €2.4 billion in 2023, including nearly €12 million of new developments. Prior to Budget Day I stated that my priority was to secure additional funding for Budget 2023 to ensure the continuation of all services to a high standard. Long-term residential care will be supported through additional funding for the Nursing Homes Support Scheme (NHSS) to maintain services and manage inflationary increases.

In addition, a significant fund of up to €100m has been allocated this year to support community based service providers who are such an essential pillar in the provision of Health services across country. This fund is being made available in recognition of the challenges being faced by the sector in delivering and maintaining key health and social care services against a backdrop of increased inflationary pressures affecting energy, heating and related costs. These organisations are funded through the HSE to deliver a range of health and social care services on behalf of the HSE to communities around Ireland. This includes residential, day and ancillary services for people with a disability, older people, mental health services, palliative care services, addiction services and other health and social care services provided in the community.

The details of the plan are being finalised. It is proposed that the inflation support fund will be administered by the HSE utilising the mechanisms in place for funding eligible organisations in receipt of Service Level Arrangements and Grant Aid Agreements. These arrangements are already in place with organisations that provide key health and social care services for people in Ireland. It is proposed that payments will be made to eligible organisations in the final quarter of 2022 to meet the pressures of this coming winter. Many eligible organisations may be already operating within a context of increased inflationary pressures.

For providers of long-term residential care who participate in the nursing home support scheme, funding will be allocated through the established mechanism of the Temporary Assistance Payment Scheme. Precise details of the scheme are being finalised and will be communicated in the coming days.

To address strategic workforce challenges in the nursing home and home care sector, a Cross-Departmental Strategic Workforce Advisory Group (SWAG) was established in March 2022 and published a report on 15 October outlining 16 key recommendations spanning the areas of recruitment and retention, pay and conditions and overall sectoral reform. I strongly endorse the Group’s recommendations to address the critical shortage of care workers in Ireland and a dedicated Implementation Group will start to progress these immediately.

Funding to support people to access services in the sector continues to be provided in line with the long-established statutory mechanisms under the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act 2009. This is the mechanism established by the Oireachtas to provide for the processes relating to funding under the NHSS and the negotiation of prices for services for private and voluntary providers with the designated State agency, the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF). Maximum prices for individual nursing homes are agreed with the NTPF following negotiations and based on the NTPF’s cost criteria. These criteria include costs reasonably incurred by the nursing home, local market prices, historic prices and overall budgetary capacity.

The NTPF carry out this role independently under the NHSS Act 2009. The NTPF has statutory independence, and there is no role for Ministers or the Department of Health in these negotiations. The Department of Health published a review of the NTPF pricing system in June 2021. It recommended several actions to improve the pricing system which are now being taken forward by the Department of Health and the NTPF.